And who can doubt that it will lead to the worst disorders when minds created free by God are compelled to submit slavishly to an outside will? When we are told to deny our senses and subject them to the whim of others? When people devoid of whatsoever competence are made judges over experts and are granted authority to treat them as they please? These are the novelties which are apt to bring about the ruin of commonwealths and the subversion of the state. [On the margin of his own copy of Dialogue on the Great World Systems].

During our short sojourn here we are constantly changing. There is no such a thing as remaining always the same in any particular element. Our thoughts change. Our actions are not the same today as they were yesterday. We are constantly gathering new ideas, either bettering our lives, or making ourselves more unhappy. Collecting the beauties and sweets of this life is like gathering favorite roses from among the tangled briars. We pay dearly for the pleasure of having them. Yet we are told that this is but a "preparatory school," and the lessons we learn here are to make us more competent to enter into the higher departments of heaven. Let us strive on.

When scientists are honest, as most of them are, they are well aware of the fact that their competence in science does not give them a clue to the problem of how their science should be used in the service of man. The sensitive visitor to the mesas of Los Alamos is almost sure to meditate on the experience of that gifted man, Klaus Fuchs. Though his work in the laboratories was outstanding, his decision concerning the use of what he knew was disastrous. What if, in addition to his scientific competence, the younger Fuchs had shared something of the Christian conviction of his father, Emil Fuchs? Much of the subsequent history of our earth might then have been different.

Water is essential for soup - but soup is more than water. Competence is essential for business - but business is more than competence. What is added to water gives the 'value' of the soup. What is added to competence gives the value delivered by business. Competence is becoming a commodity, Information is becoming a commodity. State of the art technology is becoming a commodity. So what is going to differentiate businesses? How are these commodities to be designed to deliver value? That means design. That means creativity. That means new ideas. Ideas are going to become more important in business than they have ever been.

What the church should be telling the worker is that the first demand religion makes on him is that he should be a good workman. If he is a carpenter he should be a competent carpenter. Church by all means on Sundays - but what is the use of church if at the very center of life a man defrauds his neighbor and insults God by poor craftsmanship.